The two former colleagues will be in opposite dug-outs at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day as one continues to hold the fort for his club while the other relaunches his career after an eventful interlude since they worked together at Bolton.

Sbragia was part of Allardyce's staff at the Reebok Stadium as he worked wonders to drag the club into Europe before seeking a new challenge.

The Scot was tempted away from Wanderers in April last year when Roy Keane recruited the former Manchester United coach to play a key role in his Wearside revival.

However, little did either man think they would spend this Friday attempting to outwit each other with in the heat of the battle for Barclays Premier League survival.

Sbragia said: "No, I wouldn't have expected to be in this situation, me taking the team at Sunderland and Sam going to Blackburn, one of the old rivals when we were at Bolton.

"But it will be great to see him. I spoke to him on Saturday - I was really pleased for him on Saturday and vice-versa.

"We spoke a little bit - I think he is going to bring a bottle of wine up - but in general, I am looking forward to seeing him.

"Obviously, I wish him all the best - but I don't wish him too well on Boxing Day."

Allardyce, of course, is no stranger to Wearside having both played for and worked for the club in the past, while he has also visited the Stadium of Light on many occasions, both with Bolton and once as manager of arch-rivals Newcastle.

The Magpies left with a point to show for their efforts on November 10 last year when James Milner's fortuitous equaliser cancelled out Danny Higginbotham's earlier header, and he had long since been sacked by the time Michael Owen's double secured all three points in the return at St James' Park in April.

Allardyce, who was swiftly installed as favourite to succeed Keane by the bookmakers, spent 11 months out of work after Newcastle owner Mike Ashley ended his eight-month reign, but returned to the game with a bang on Saturday when he guided relegation-threatened Rovers to a 3-0 victory over Stoke in his first match in charge.

That came as no surprise to Sbragia, who knows exactly what to expect on Friday as he attempts to build upon successive victories over West Brom and Hull which yielded a total of eight goals.

He said: "I had three and a half good years with Sam and I learnt an awful lot from him.

"He is a good manager, a great delegator with staff and players, and I know for a fact he is well organised.

"He did teach me an awful lot regarding how to deal with players, how to look at the team, how to talk to players who are not involved.

"I have learnt an awful lot from him and totally appreciated the three and a half years I had with him.

"I actually think Blackburn are a stronger unit than we are. They have been in the Premier League a number of years more than us.

"We are still learning about the Premier League, but we have got to learn quickly.

"We are still in that mire, we are still down there, although the six points have been absolutely brilliant.

"That has made it slightly different, but if we lose a couple of games, we are back in there, so we are looking now to carrying on the good work and trying to get something on Friday."